>> always compelling mike tyson. that's tomorrow night for the hour. that's all for us tonight. "ac 360 later" with john berman filling in for anderson cooper starts right now. is causing a hollywood travel mess in so much of the country. it has now been updated to nor'easter status by the national weather service and it looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better. the northeast is supposed to get some brutal winds tomorrow which i am sure you have been told is one of the busiest travel days of the year. this could cause a major domino effect if the airports in new york, philadelphia and boston start seeing big delays. right now there are about 180 flight cancellations nation-wide for today and tomorrow. which isn't bad unless of course you were supposed to be on one of those 180 flights. on the ground, the scene is pretty chaotic with rain, snow,

ice, making for treacherous driving in much of the country. >> reporter: large swaths of the country woke to blankets of snow this morning. crews scrambling to keep up with the weather for the morning commute. in wisconsin, despite the best efforts of authorities, dozens of accidents littered highways. >> there's a point where there's just nothing you can deal with. just glare ice. you're just a passenger in your own car. >> reporter: in pennsylvania, parts of the state are expecting accumulations of up to 18 inches. the massive storm is so large, it spans the entire length of the united states. in arkansas, rain mixed with dropping temperatures created black ice conditions and caused the accidents across the state, including a 12-car pileup on interstate 540. >> next thing i know i'm spinning trying to grab my wheel and then i just hit the wall and then just jumped out to make sure my kids were okay.

>> reporter: beyond the roads, the air travel is a major concern for millions of americans. the storm continues to cause scores of flight cancellations heading into tomorrow. one of the busiest travel days of the entire year. >> so let's get the latest on the storm from meteorologist chad myers in the cnn weather center. chad, is crunch time. so how are things looking? >> getting colder because the sun has set. that's exactly what we thought earlier, john. we talked about this, that the most dangerous part of this storm would be after sunset tonight. and that has happened, roads are cooling, the air is cooling and now we're turning to this pink color. pink color means that it's either rain that's freezing at the ground when it hits the ground as freezing rain or sleet that's falling through the sky, rain drops coming down and freezing before it hits the ground and it sounds like little tink tink tink on your windows. so that's what that pink area means. it's been snowing the whole day up in buffalo.

to the northwest of pittsburgh snowing all day. all the way back towards columbus same story and raining down here to the south. but the colder air that's now entraining into the system really is concerning me about what this means for the next couple of days and what travel is going to be like across pennsylvania really for tonight. it could be a disaster. my parents grew up in pennsylvania. it's a hilly place. you don't need any ice at all going up and down those hills at night. so try to stay off the roads if you can. we advance you to tomorrow. and here's where it gets bad. an hour to two-hour delays in d.c. new york metro's two to three hours. and you're saying to yourself, wait, it's only going to rain in boston. how do we get three to four-hour delays? because you're going to be have wind gusts to up to 60 miles per hour there. new york city, 40 miles per hour. d.c., 30 miles per hour. airplanes can't take off and land at the duration at the distance the want to be. the want to be every minute, every two minutes. when you get this type of wind it's maybe every four minutes. you get half as many planes on the ground as you want, you're going to get long delays, john.

>> chad, i'm bad at math, but those delay numbers look very, very bad to me. the national weather service has now officially called this a nor'easter. what exactly does that mean, chad? >> you know, it's a storm that has now gone into its developmental stage where you get cold air that comes down from the north, coming down here, and the water across the atlantic ocean is still warm. well, i don't want to surf in it but it's relatively warm compared to this air coming down here at 30 the water being 60 you get a coastal low to develop. and it bombs out. it becomes much deeper, much lower pressure, much higher wind. that happens when the low comes out of the gulf of mexico, it swings up the east coast and then keeps on going all the way up toward nova scotia. it wasn't a big windmaker down here in atlanta. the winds were maybe 20. with the bombing out nor'easter quote you'll get winds to boston tomorrow 60 miles per hour.

that's what that means. >> all right. we have that to look forward to. chad myers, thanks so much. we do have coverage all over the country as travelers try to get where they're going before thanksgiving. gary tuchman is in washington. george howell is in buffalo. and david mattingly is at atlanta's hartsfield-jackson international airport. george, i want to start with you. you have the prettiest picture there. you're in buffalo. it snows every now and then in buffalo. still, we're on like thanksgiving eve here. how's it going up there? >> reporter: well, look, we've seen the snow come down light through most of the day, but as chad said, it is starting to come down heavier. just now starting to stick to the ground. and, john, this is just the beginning. we do understand that here in the city of buffalo they are preparing for anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of snow, and then in the south towns and what the call the southern tier and northwestern pennsylvania. the could see anywhere from 6 to 8 inches, even a foot of snow. that's great news out there for the ski resorts.

but like we've been saying throughout the program, bad news considering that this plays out overnight into wednesday, which is the busiest if not one of the busiest travel days of the year. >> even grizzled, snow-hardened veterans want to get where they need to go on thanksgiving day. i imagine there are people upset up there. >> upset in buffalo. not necessarily. when you talk about 4 to 6 inches of snow here in the city, they know how to deal with the snow. so what we found, the city officials have their snow plan, the have several plows, anywhere from 25 to 30 plows that will be going out, 60 people that will be clearing these roads overnight. and, john, a lot of salt. the have enough salt here to clear the city for at least three days. >> good. at least they're prepared. george, great to hear. let's go to washington. gary tuchman in the nation's capital, snack dab in the middle of i-95 there. gary, how's things? >> reporter: john, the heavy rains are now coming down in washington.

inside the beltway, outside the beltway, on the beltway. there are big traffic problems tonight, lots of accidents. and we're seeing that all throughout the northeast. we expect tonight and this thanksgiving eve eve, tomorrow thanksgiving eve. the problems are going to be very acute in the northeastern united states because starting in the southern suburbs of washington working to the northern suburbs of boston, 17% of the u.s. population resides in that area. there's only 2% of the united states in land that's 17% of the population. and even on beautiful sunny days, beautiful clear nights, traffic problems are immense on the tuesday nights and wednesday night before thanksgiving. and when you have these heavy rains, when you have the freezing rains, the possibility of snow, you're expecting some very serious problems. 39 million americans are expected to be driving more than 50 miles away from home for thanksgiving. that's basically 1 out of 8 americans for the northeast. it's a big problem when you have weather like this. >> great point. bad enough already on i-95, the last thing in the world the need

is this rainstorm. thanks so much. now to david mattingly in atlanta's hartsfield-jackson international airport. david, we saw some delays there, cancellations today. what's the expectation for tomorrow? this is one of the busiest airports in the world, such a crucial hub. how do things look? >> reporter: well, it is the busiest airport in the world. this is the busiest week. 1.5 million people are expected to come through here before the week's over. 125,000 people just tomorrow alone with all that weather uncertainty. and you were seeing how it was in d.c. and up in buffalo, how the dominos are stacking up along the east coast. right here we're waiting to go see how those dominos fall along with all the airlines and all the passengers waiting on those flights and those connections here through atlanta. i spoke to the leading carrier here, delta, they've already canceled a handful of regional flights tomorrow, they did that proactively knowing that there

would be some problems and there would be some delays, trying to get passengers some time to make other arrangements. but right now, they are still looking at those long flights, the uninterrupted flights from atlanta to new york to boston to philadelphia, all those problem areas. they're going to make a decision sometime tomorrow. so passengers are told to do two things, stay in touch with your airline to keep tabs on your flight and your options if there's a cancellation. watch the weather, and be patient. john? >> great advice. david mattingly, gary tuchman, george howell, thanks so much. david brings us to the next subject. down to the nitty-gritty what you need it know to make your thanksgiving travel as smooth as possible. and what your rights are as an airline passenger if you do find yourself stuck in an airport. amy farley has the answers. she is the news editor for "travel & leisure magazine" and writes the "trip doctor column." amy joins me now. amy, the first two things i think people think of doing when they're stuck in an airport is complain and drink, neither are probably useful. what are your rights?

what can you expect from the airlines and can't expect from the airlines? >> unfortunately, the bad news is, when it's weather that's causing the delays, you really don't get much from the airlines. they're not obligated to do much. obligated to get you on the next flight possible but that could be days as the try to untangle this mess. and they also are not obliged to give you travel vouchers for meals or even for hotel if you're caught in the midst of something. that said, airlines are being more flexible because the understanding is that this is an extraordinary circumstances, and they want you to try to untangle the mess they're caught in a lot of them are waiving the rebooking fees. the normally tack on if you try to change your travel plans at the last minute. >> how hard is to it rebook during the thanksgiving week here? not a lot of extra capacity? >> that's the main problem is trying to get on an alternate flight. we say it can be good to look for other destinations if you can get close to your final destination and drive there, if

you want to route yourself through other airports, maybe one of your layover airports is where the problem is. so look for alternate routes to your destination. and also consider an alternate carrier. usually airlines don't let you book on other carriers or won't sort of rebook you on another carrier, but they may be more obliging right now because these are extraordinary circumstances. >> but basically you're hoping for goodwill at the terminal there, goodwill on the phone. they don't have to do it? >> they don't have to do that. one option if they won't do it, this is sort of the nuclear option, but if you wanted to cancel your ticket and ask the first airline to waive the change fee, which can be up to $200. cancel your ticket, take a travel voucher for your original airline and see if you can book a new ticket on an entirely different carrier. that could be very expensive but it may be your only option if you have to get there. >> the whole drinking thing i suggest first maybe one of the best options. amy farley, appreciate it. we'll be tracking the weather all night. just ahead a new challenge for president obama's health care law. the supreme court will review two cases that can test the

law's rule on contraception. how strong are their arguments? our legal experts weigh in. plus an assault in pittsburgh caught on video, a teenager punching and kicking a stranger so hard that the victim falls. is this part of that trend that some are calling the knockout game? we'll have a reality check straight ahead.

tonight, president obama's health care overhaul is facing a new challenge. the supreme court has agreed to hear a pair of cases contesting the affordable care act's contraception rule. the issues the justices will be weighing in on are thorny and complicated to say the least. many religious groups are exempt the from the law's requirements for contraception coverage, but for-profit corporations are not. the companies behind the two cases say the should not have to provide health insurance that covers certain types of contraceptives, just certain types. there's a lot to talk about here. joining me cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin and sunny hostin, both former federal prosecutors

and jake seculo, chief counsel for the american center for law and justice. >> all right. jeff, i want to start with you here, obama care has obviously become such a loaded issue in so many ways. both politically and in front of the supreme court, i suppose, legally as well. but at the heart of this case, this case that the supreme court has now taken on, it's a first amendment issue whether corporations enjoy the same religious rights as people, correct? >> that's one of the issues. what makes this case so rich and complicated is that there are a lot of really hard issues. does a company which is organized for profit have the right to religious feelings? that's one of the questions in this case. another question is, can you force individuals who own that company to do something that violates their religious scruples? and can you tell individuals that everybody else is covered by one law but you don't get coverage for birth control because your owners have some different religious feelings.

>> jay, you have a very clear position here. you think these corporations should not be forced to violate their permanent religious beliefs. >> right. i think jeff's right. the interesting aspect of this is the multitude of issues. but i think the court's squarely faced with one issue they don't think is escapable here, the fact that the court's going to have to answer the question do the corporations have owners have particular religious views or conscience issues can the be compelled to do something that violates those religious views or violate their conscience? our view is the cannot be compelled. certainly absent a compelling governmental interest. i think it's going to be a monumental decision on the religious liberty issue. look, it's got three issues. it's got president obama's health care law. it's obama care, affordable care act, it's got a religious issue, and it's got the abortion component as well. it's going to be a blockbuster of a case.

>> sonny, i saw you nodding your head. a wee little bit there. >> yeah, there certainly is a compelling interest. that is a woman's right and ability to control her own body. now where do you draw the line? if a corporation can say well, you can get condoms which i believe one of the corporations is saying but you can't get the after morning pill, and you can't get this kind of birth control or that kind. this is a very important case. and as a woman, i am shocked that someone would say that a corporation, a profit corporation, would have the ability to make those choices. >> jay, i want to follow up on that. because this is a little bit like a sex-ed class, this case before the court. it's not saying that no contraception should be allowed here. they specifically say only certain kinds. so why that distinction? >> well, it's because of the religious scruples, the religious conscience of the owners of the companies. i think the reality is that the idea that a corporation's owners, the people that founded the corporations, run the

corporations and own the orpgs, can't set the terms of the insurance benefits that they're offering their employees is a bit outrageous. and i think the distinction between what sunny just said and the actual case here is, there's no governmental compelling governmental interest in our view that you have to surrender your right of freedom of religion. hold on. when your freedom of religion as compared to the ability to obtain contraceptives. no one's saying they can't obtain contraceptives. the employer is saying i don't want to pay for them. >> jay, a lot of the terms of insurance are set by the government all the time. if you have a corporation where the -- >> no. >> -- where the employer, the owner, says, we don't want to have black people work there so we won't offer insurance to our black employees. that's something that's illegal. you're not challenging that. >> that's right. >> of course. because there's a compelling governmental interest to eradicate racial discrimination. there is not a compelling governmental interest to require in this particular case birth control or whatever it might be some may consider

abortifacients. not a compelling government interest. >> not compelling for a woman to have the right to choose to have her rights. that's not a compelling interest in your view. >> sure. the women have -- see but i think it's conflating the issue that's before the court. the case is not whether women have the right to contraceptives. of course, they do. they have the right. the supreme court's recognized that. the question is can an owner of a company be compelled to violate their religious conscience? no doubt about it i think all three of us will agree the court will be divided. a question of who's going to get to five. >> jeffrey, your favorite theme here i want you to predict where the court might go on this. is there anywhere to compromise? there is any middle ground here? >> you know, i think there potentially is some middle ground here. usually the safe bet is the four conservatives vote one way, four liberals vote the other and anthony kennedy decides the outcome. i think there are sufficient number of moving parts in this case that we may be surprised, they may manage to find some

sort of common ground that doesn't break down along the traditional ideological grounds. but that's one of the things that makes this case so interesting is that you have so many of these cross currents. but the safe bet is usually 5-4 with anthony kennedy deciding the outcome. i guess if i had to predict that's what i'd say. >> you're always right about these things. thank you all for joining us. appreciate it. >> thanks. the battle for congress has take an new turn. new polls show republicans are now in the lead among registered voters. so is the obama care debacle to blame? that's next. also ahead, why was president obama meeting with steve martin? and more importantly, how come the comedian wouldn't shake the president's hand? the intrigue, the answers when "360" continues.

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in raw politics tonight there has been a big turn around in the battle for control of congress in the midterm elections next year. the latest polls show that republicans have an edge among registered voters, 49% to 47%. just a month ago, democrats had the advantage, 50% to 42%. but that was before the political melee over obama care reached a fever pitch. joining me to talk about this chief national correspondent john king. >> so, john, it was just a month ago we were talking about the republicans in big trouble. they were going to get creamed in 2014 because of the government shutdown. now, it's the democrats looking up at the republicans. is this all about obama care? >> it's mostly about obama care,

and the democratic bounce after the shutdown evaporating. look, the air is out of that balloon, you're right. a month ago there were a lot of democrats in this town dreaming of speaker pelosi. forget about that for now. if you look closely at this poll it tells you we're back into a normal political environment. by that i mean democrats are winning in the cities, republicans are winning in rural areas. democrats are winning with downscale income voters, republicans tend to win among more affluent voters. a normal political environment. the problem for the democrats is history tells you a normal political environment means a huge republican mid-term election. in a second-term president the six-year itch election, history says on average the president's party loses 19 seats in the house. if the democrats lose in the ballpark of 19 seats in the house next year, then republicans have a really good shot of not only obviously keeping the house majority but getting the half dozen plus seat, the seven seats they need to take the senate. so this is going to cause a lot of jitters, maybe stronger words among democrats.

>> one of the most overused cliches in politics a year is an eternity. it is a year until the mid-term election. but a lot of important dates before that they think a lot of democrats are looking at very closely. one comes next week this. website, healthcare.gov, it's supposed to be up and running, at least 80% next week. that has to be crucial for democrats? >> it's crucial for democrats, if it's at 79.5, i'm not trying to be a clown here, members of the president's own party are beginning to walk away from this white house. his approval rating is in the 30s. now democrats see a generic ballot in which they are losing heading into the mid-term elections. this is going to become about personal survival in congress, not about the president of the united states. so if the president is underperforming, meaning that web site is underperforming, any additional problems with obama care watch out. you've already seen a case of jitters among democrats. some disloyalty among democrats. they will run. just ask george w. bush his party would not stand with him on nearly anything late 2006-early 2007. if that starts to happen with the president it's a problem.

geoff -- given the poll numbers we see right now, his number us and this new poll today. increasingly like you will you'll see a panic among democrats. >> john king, great to talk to you. a lot more happening tonight. susan hendricks has a 360 news and business bulletin. susan. >> john, president obama has declared parts of illinois a major disaster area after tornadoes tore through the state last weekend. one twister that hit the city of washington was an ef-4 packing winds up to 190 miles per hour. at least six people were killed in the state. a connecticut judge has ordered the release of 911 recordings from sandy hook school shooting. the tapes remain sealed until december 4th to give the prosecutor a chance to appeal. the prosecutor says the recordings would be too painful for victims' families. 26 people died in the attack last december, including 20 children. an italian prosecutor in the retrial of amanda knox says the 26-year-old american should get

a 30-year sentence for killing her roommate in 2007. knox was convicted of the crime in 2009, then freed two years later on appeal. but a retrial was ordered on grounds the jury that acquitted knox did not consider all the evidence. the dow jones industrial average ending slightly higher for a new record close of 16,075 while the nasdaq closed above 4,000 for the first time in 13 years. and president obama got a tour of dream works animation studios today. and there he is. he bumped elbows with comedian steve martin. and, yes, that is "big bang theory" star jim parsons there with him. martin says he didn't want to give the president his cold so he didn't shake his hand. steve martin performed at the white house in the past so the have a history. >> i heard steve martin wouldn't shake his hand. figured there'd be a headline comedian snubs president. >> exact.

. >> he had a cold. >> he had a cold. believe it or not, steve martin plays the ban joe. he played at the white house. mr. obama said he was amazing. >> steve martin is very good at the banjo. >> and very funny. >> thanks. just ahead, attacks like the one we're about to show you here caught on video in crown heights, brooklyn, where strangers sucker-punked their victims out of the blue on the street. some are calling this violence the knockout game. is this trend real or media hype? i'm going to speak with one woman who was punched in the face. plus, people call him the people's pope. and put all the reasons why in writing. and why the major church document is such a big deal for so many followers.

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tonight a reality check on a story that has been getting a lot of attention nationwide. on its face, it is flat-out shocking. videos like this one showing young people seemingly randomly assaulting a stranger on the street in pittsburgh. there have been reports of assaults similar to this one in a number of cities. just today, a woman in brooklyn was punched in the face by a stranger. police are investigating it as a possible case of the knockout game. that's what some people are calling these attacks. a brutal game where kids and teenagers assault random strangers for nothing other than a thrill. the question is, is this an actual trend, or just a catchy label? cnn's pamela brown has been

investigating. >> reporter: it's shocking to watch, but this is happening. whether the victim is walking down the street like this or taking public transportation like this unsuspecting rider. these videos from surveillance cameras show these people being sucker punched by people who are believed to be complete strangers. while unprovoked attacks on strangers are not news, the question of whether these could be part of the so-called knockout game where a person punches a stranger with the goal of knocking them unconscious in a single blow has captured the attention of law enforcement. >> we're trying to prevent it from becoming widespread by taking action at this point in time. >> reporter: but authorities say they don't know if this is part of a larger phenomenon. >> it's very difficult to say because these kinds of incidents are classified as either simple assault or aggravated assault, perhaps even robbery. but there have been a handful that could fall into this category. >> reporter: police in missouri and new jersey are currently links two deaths to the knockout

game, a vietnamese man in st. louis in 2011 and the homeless man in hoboken in september. this surveillance video shows the suspects in hoboken walking away. attacks have been reported in at least four states and the district of columbia in the last three years. just this month in brooklyn, new york, two elderly women were attacked. they're among at least seven people who have been attacked in new york this year. police are investigating at least one of those cases as a hate crime because the victim is jewish. despite speculation otherwise, authorities say there's no evidence so far that any of the attacks are racially motivated. in philadelphia, police say a group of teens recently jumped a passerby walking into this pizza joint. police arrested a 15-year-old and 17-year-old in that case. now the victim wants answers from his attackers. >> it's not like they're going and getting anything. they're just doing it for spite. it's not good for any neighborhood or community. >> reporter: in some cities, police are reluctant to link this recent pattern of behavior to the knock out game because the evidence doesn't support it

or perhaps because of a concern that bringing attention to it will breed copycats. >> the press has named it so-called knockout game. we don't discount that that exists. it's a possibility. we've investigated and we continue to investigate. >> reporter: whether the knock out game is real or not, penalty for these crimes can be stiff. in st. louis where the victim was killed, a 20-year-old suspect was sentenced to life in prison. pamela brown, cnn, new york. phoebe connolly doesn't care what you call this crime. that's not what's important to her. it happened to her in northwest washington. a neighborhood called columbia heights. she was on her bike. she joins me tonight. >> phoebe, walk us through what happened to you. >> on friday, november 15th, i was biking home, and i was biking up 11th street in columbia heights.

and as i was making my way i noticed a group of teenagers biking up the hill ahead of me. by the time i got close to the top of the hill, they had stopped. and i continued biking. and the separated themselves into two groups. there was about five kids on the right-hand side and three kids on the left. as i approached the group i had to bike through them. and i said, excuse me, as i was biking through. and just as i was passing through the group, one of the kids of the group biked off and cut me off, cut my path of direction off and turned his bike so that he was going down the hill as i was going up it. and as we passed, he reached out and punched me in the face and said, whoopow as he hit me in the face. and the whole group of kids laughed. >> so you obviously knew you'd

been punched in the face. you knew you'd been assaulted. at what point did it occur to you thought was more than just a one off attack? >> i didn't think too much about it. i was bothered by it. i was annoyed by it. it frustrated me. it upset me that a group of kids were laughing at me after having hit me. i wasn't seriously injured. and i mentioned it to some friends. and the said that it sounded like was the knockout game which i had never heard of before. so i googled it. and when i googled it, the second news line that came up was knockout game comes to columbia heights. and i found that very curious since i was in columbia heights. and i read the news article. and it stated that the night before, a woman was walking down 14th street in the same neighborhood and was punched in the back of the head.

as i learned more about it, it was a group of kids on bikes. they laughed when it happened. so it did sound very similar to what had happened to me. >> so what are the ironies here is that you work on youth programs. you spend time with teenagers. so you bring obviously an inside perspective on the thought process here. what do you want the people who did this, what do you want them to think about? >> yeah. i think that's a great question. and i think that was one of my main incentives, the reason that i called the police was because my understanding of teenagers is they just don't always think about the ramifications of their actions, how they can hurt people, how they can cause problems for the rest of their lives. and i think that's an important thing for them to recognize. and for me, i can only speak about my individual incident that happened.

and i'm generally somebody who prefers to think about what is behind something versus why someone did it. and i think that's something that's really important for us to do is look at these incidents in a more productive way. and instead of constantly replaying them on media on youtube or whatever it is, i really feel like that's just creating more of a culture of fear and polarization instead of actually spending time thinking about why it is that people are choosing to do this and how can it be stopped and prevented. >> phoebe connolly, sorry you had to go through this. but we're so glad you're doing okay now. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. up next, pope francis calls for big changes in the catholic church. meet the severely disfigured man the pope hugged and kissed. the man shares how this encounter changed his life. also ahead, an update on our breaking news.

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today pope francis put his new vision for the roman catholic church bluntly forth in writing, challenging church leaders to change course and shift their focus back to the poor.

he wrote "i prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty, because it's been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy for being confined and from clinging to its own security." that's right. he basically told church leaders they spend too much time parsing church doctrine. he advised them to get their shoes muddy, to get involved in the lives of their parishioners. it's the first major document this pope has written by himself before becoming pope. another of the key messages, he says the world has changed, and the church must change with it. in other words, it is a major break from the past. earlier i spoke to cnn senior vatican analyst john allen. >> john, this is a pretty remarkable document with some awfully startling language. in your piece today you write it's tantamount to an "i have a dream" speech from pope francis. what do you mean by that? >> well, this document, 224

pages in length which is kind of a vision statement as to how pope francis understands the role of the catholic church today begins with a dream. francis says that he has a dream of a church that is more missionary, that is more focused on outreach rather than collapsing in on itself, and that's more merciful. that is it doesn't focus on what he calls rules that make us harsh judges but instead is more tolerant and compassionate. and to achieve that dream, he signals that he's open to change on a staggering variety of fronts. now, it's not that everything is up for grabs. he says that on women priests and abortion, two very controversial fronts, the things are not going to change. but beyond that, he said that he's interested in a decentralization of the power of the pope, a kind of democratizing of the church. he wants to empower laity. he wants a more generous line on admission to the sacraments of the church, especially communion, which could have implications for not just divorced and remarried catholics, and there are millions of them around the

world, but also pro-choice catholic politicians in places suches the united states, where some bishops have threatened to publicly turn them away in the communion line. so i mean, he is clearly letting loose the wind of change in the catholic church in multiple arenas. and all of it is calculated to achieve this vision, this dream of a more missionary, merciful roman catholicism. >> there are suggestions, at least, and you mentioned a few of them, of some big changes here. who's threatened by this? >> reporter: well look, change is always threatening whether it's change in politics or change of the economy or change in religion. so certainly there's going to be an old guard in the vatican that is very wedded to older ways of doing business that is not going to like this. there will be some conservative and traditional sectors of opinion at the grassroots of the catholic church that worries that francis is tossing the baby out with the bath water. but let's not miss the big picture. the big picture is that in every region of the world, where

public opinion can be scientifically surveyed, francis has the kind of approval ratings that politicians and celebrities would crawl across hot coals to try to obtain. so the impression is he has overwhelming grassroots support. and that gives him the kind of political capital that any leader needs to push through a change program. >> john allen, always illuminating to speak with you. thanks so much for being with us. over the past eight months, pope francis has matched his words with his actions. it's a cliche' but it's true here. he's not just talk, he walks the walk. a recent image of him embracing a severely disfigured man went viral. you've probably seen it. a powerful moment that became a symbol of this pope's compassion. ben wedeman tracked down the man and learned that it wasn't just powerful for him, it was profoundly important. here's his report up close. >> reporter: after four hours of

work, benecio is done. five days a week he does odd jobs at a home for the elderly in vicenza in northern italy. by the way, did you notice something? yes. 53-year-old benecio suffers from a genetic condition. his body is almost completely covered from head to toe with growths, swellings and sores. his mother had the same condition as does his sister. he's had it since the age of 15. his appearance often terrifies strangers. benicio recalls trying to take a seat on the bus but being told by the passenger next to him to sit somewhere else. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: i wanted to answer back, but i controlled

myself, he says. i felt my blood pressure rise. i wanted to least bus but i had a doctor's appointment. there were lots of people on the bus, but no one said a word. >> reporter: not all strangers, however, react like that. earlier this month, venecio went with his aunt catherine to saint peter's square where pope francis approached him and without a moment's hesitation kissed and hugged him. >> translator: when he embraced me, he recalls, i quivered. i felt a great warmth. >> aunt katerina was struck by the pope's very down to earth manner. >> translator: i looked down at his shoes. the were like this, she says. i thought, yes, this is someone who really walks. and he was someone who if he weren't wearing that clothing you wouldn't even know he's the pope.

>> reporter: since then, vinicio has returned to his daily routines. he continues to work and root for his favorite soccer team, juventes. but something has changed. the pope's simple embrace was a signal to millions that underneath vinicio's tortured surface is a fellow human being. >> translator: i feel stronger and happier, he tells me. i feel i can move ahead because the lord is protecting me. >> reporter: however, he still has some unfinished business with pope francis. >> translator: i hope he calls me so we can have a face-to-face meeting says vinicio. i have many things to tell him. >> what do you want to tell him, i ask. >> that's a bit private, he replies. it's between him and i.

>> reporter: vinicio returns home from work on his bike, his dignity far more apparent than his illness. ben wedeman, cnn, vicenze, italy. >> remarkable what a message. a life truly changed. up next, an update on our breaking news. will high winds ground the famous thanksgiving parade balloons here in new york city? chad myers has the updated holiday forecast. that's coming up next.

back now to our breaking news. the latest on the nor'easter and those flight delays really starting to pile up. chad myers is monitoring all this in the weather center. chad, what's the latest? >> all the way from montreal down to florida, that's how big this storm system is. here's a live shot from atlanta, georgia. winds picking up, here's what happens when that happens to the airports. there's atlanta hartsfield-jackson airport. all planes trying to land except those. can you see those, john? those planes aren't trying to land. they are doing circles up here in northeast georgia. you hate it when your plane just goes around and around and around. that's what they're doing in south georgia as well. when you look at the flight board, all you're going to start to see is this word right here,

"day delayed." delayed at hartsfield-jackson. and that's just from the low ceilings and a wind shift we're getting here at the city of atlanta. >> chad, that's amazing. those are remarkable and depressing pictures. i've never seen those circle before on that graphic. you've been talking about the wind from this nor'easter. there are real concerns about this wind. what does it all mean for the macy's parade here and the balloons? >> there's a threshold, john. the threshold says that you can't have a sustained wind over 23, you can't have a wind gust over 34. i've watched this parade now for 47 years, since i was 3. and i have seen these guys trying to hold these balloons down, big floats especially my favorite underdog. everybody knows that since i've been talking about that all day long. but the threshold for the morning of the parade is 34 for the wind gusts. so let me take you ahead. here's what we have right now. 25. here's tomorrow afternoon. and that's the wind gust at parade time. right on the number. if it's higher than that the cancel the balloons, if it's lower than that the balloons fly.

it's really amazing to see that that number is exactly what the threshold is. >> chad, thanks. that does it for this edition 360. thanks for watching. "early start," the most important show on television begins right now. thanksgiving travel nightmare. a deadly storm plaguing the country, grounding planes, bringing traffic to a standstill. we are live with where the storm is headed next. and the chaos already created from the nation's biggest airport. challenging china, u.s. bombers flying over islands and space china says belongs to it. three arizona kids claiming they were held captive in their own home for years. malnourished and dirty. finally finding their way to freedom. the shocking accusations ahead. >>